SLOWLY FALLING FOR YOU (α∂яιєηєттє)

Chap. 25

We finished our food and started to put our plates in the sink, Nathalie promising to wash them. I'd offered my help, but Nathalie had said she didn't need any. "Besides," she added, "your father would like to have a word with you, Adrien."

For some reason, those words made me shudder. Maybe it was because I already knew what he wanted to talk about with me, or maybe it was just because I hated having a conversation with him due to how many times he'd stare coldly at me. But then I remembered I had wanted to speak with him as well, but hadn't gotten the chance because he had been busy with the others. It was like he had been avoiding me, only staring at me from far distance. I nodded at Nathalie anyway and started to head out of the kitchen. When I walked out, Marinette seemed to have been waiting for me.

"H-hey," I waved at her. Looking around and seeing that no one else were paying us any attention, I smiled and turned back to Marinette.

"Yeah, hey," she smiled back, but it only stayed up for a second before she dropped it. "Listen, something has been bothering me a bit. Ever since I saw that photo back at the picnic, I couldn't stop wondering why it had been taken in the first place, but. . .what really got my attention was that wound on Lila's body. It looked fresh too, and when I asked her about it, she hadn't said a word, almost like she was too afraid to say anything." Marinette suddenly looked pissed, clenching her hands and jaw and glaring at nothing. "I'm tired of waiting around, and since Lila doesn't want to do anything about it, I've decided to take matters into my own hands!"

"Meaning. . .?"

"I'm going to pay her father a visit. Even though years back, Lila said not to do it, I've been trying so hard to prove that her father was abusing her to the police. . .but I always failed. I tried putting cameras in their house to catch him in the act, but he was being so careful, almost as if he knew the cameras were there. Later, Lila had came up to me and told me to forget it. She told me that he had forced her to blurt out the fact that there were cameras hiding around and he started acting nice so as to not arouse any suspicion. It obviously made me mad." Marinette inhaled and exhaled, her face growing calmer now. "After that had happened, I decided to just go to the police myself, but the police officers said that Lila had to admit the truth to them herself in order for them to take action. I told Lila to tell them what was going on, but instead she lied and said she was absolutely fine. She made me look like a big fool, but I figured she had only done that because her father forced her to."

"I. . ." I was shocked at every words she had told me. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want to pay her father a visit, but I don't want to go alone." She looked at me. "So, I was wondering if you were willing to go together with me."

I stood, surprised for a few seconds, not believing that she had actually asked me that. But then I nodded with a determined look, wanting to get to the bottom of this as well. "Alright, I'll go together with you. . .just after I finish talking to my father. Wait for me, okay?"

"Okay, thanks."

I walked past her, heading upstairs. At the top of the staircase, I turned around and looked down, only to see that Lila had walked up to Marinette and was now talking to her. They were talking in a low voice, so I couldn't hear them, but I had a sick feeling their conversation wasn't going to be something to like about. I turned back around and walked over to where my father's room was. I stared at the closed door, before taking in a deep breath and knocking. I heard a faint "come in"  coming from the inside, so I opened the door and walked in, making sure to close the door behind me.

"Adrien," Father looked up, staring right into my eyes. I looked away as I could feel my skin shaking with nervousness. "I wanted to know. . ." He stood up from his seat and started walking towards me. ". . .how you enjoyed the photoshoot I set up for you. I mean, I do think it was quite obvious that you had fun seeing as you looked really happy back there, but I just wanted to hear you say it with your own mouth."